Southern Florida Section Contact Information

 

Section Manager  David Fowler, K4DLF   561-676-3007    k4dlf@arrl.org

Assistant Section Manager  Jeff Beals, WA4AW    561-252-6707   wa4aw@qcwa.org

Affiliated Club Coordinator     Steve Lowman, N4SGL      n4sgl@arrl.net

Official Observer Coordinator    Al Flapan, KN4FA             kn4fa@arrl.net

Assistant OOC                         Marshall Paisner, K4MAP      k4map@arrl.net

Assistant OOC                          Harry Newell, N3HN               n3hn@arrl.net         

Public Information Coordinator    Dan Fisher, AI4GK         ai4gk@arrl.net

Section Emergency Coordinator     David Fowler, K4DLF   k4dlf@arrl.org

Section Traffic Manager     Phyllisan West, KA4FZI            ka4fzi@arrl.org

Section Webmaster      Bill Laakkonen, N4BKT                    n4bkt@arrl.net

Technical Coordinator       Don Drennon, N4TZH                 n4tzh@arrl.net

 

                                   District Emergency Coordinators

 

Gold Coast District                   Jeff Beals, WA4AW                  wa4aw@arrl.org

Palm Beach District                  David Fowler, K4DLF             k4dlf@arrl.org

Space Coast District                 Ray Kassis, N4LEM               n4lem@arrl.net

Gulf Coast District                     Thom Street, N5KFR               n5kfr@arrl.net

 

                                                 SECTION NEWS

 

 

 West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group selected as the 2013 Dayton Hamvention Club of the Year                                           

 

This award is among the most prestigious recognitions that an Amateur Radio Club can receive and they are only the 4^th club to be so honored in the 61 year history of the Dayton Hamvention. This is an International Award with clubs from around the world being considered. The last winner was the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club of Germany.

 

The criteria the judging panel considers includes the club’s contribution in mitigating the effects of disaster situations, support of public service events, amateur radio education and recruitment, youth programs, years of service, number of members, and local media coverage. The awards chairman Michael Kalter, W8CI, said that we excelled in every one of the judged criteria and made special note of our work with the South Florida Science Museum, youth recruitment, our large ARISS contact, training classes and excellent media coverage. After narrowing down the field of candidates on paper, telephone interviews were conducted to make the final choice. The announcement of the award winners was made live on the Ham Nation show hosted by Bob Heil, K9EID, and Gordon West, WB6NOA, on Twit.TV.

 

It should be noted that this award reflects the efforts of the entire club, and no single individual or small group of individuals is responsible for all of us being so honored. The 150 members of our club all contribute something to our success as a group. Some of our members, who are fortunate enough to be retired and secure, contribute a lot of volunteer time. While those members who have to work 40 (or more) hours a week to earn a living have less time to participate, their efforts also contribute to all of our success. And of course our youth members, who have to attend school and do homework and have less time to spare really make a difference by being there when they can. Every single member is important to the club and everyone makes a difference by the sharing of their time and experience. It is this combination of people that has made us successful and worthy of such an honor.

 

This award also reflects favorably on the state of Ham Radio in Palm Beach County. With about half of our 1600 square mile county densely populated and some 3000 licensed Amateur Radio Operators, no single club can meet the needs of all. We have about 10 active clubs in the county, all serving different geographical or specific interest areas. And unlike some areas where there is a lot of competition between clubs, we have a lot of cooperation between clubs in Palm Beach County. We are all united by our enjoyment of Ham Radio. We are all Hams first and club members second. And we all work toward the common goal of improving Ham Radio in Palm Beach County for everyone.     

 

The Dayton Hamvention is the largest gathering of Amateur Radio enthusiasts in the world with an expected attendance of 25,000 including many from other countries. It has been held in Dayton, Ohio every May since 1952.

For more information visit their website at www.hamvention.org

 

For more information on the West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group visit their website at www.wpbarc.com

 

 

Edwin " Ned " Buck, W4KS of West Melbourne celebrates 60 years of  ARRL membership.

Ned received a plaque commemorating his 60 years of  continous ARRL membership during the ARRL Forum at the Florida State Convention at Melbourne on October 13th.

See photo in gallery below.

Congratulations, Ned

 

 

 

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   Visit our SFL Section Website

 

Surf to www.sflarrl.org to get additional info about our section & it's activities. Take a look at the site and if information about your county is missing or outdated, ask your EC or Club President to send the information to our Webmaster, Bill, N4BKT. His email is n4bkt@arrl.net

 

------------

If you need a complete list of Section officials and  District & county Emergency Coordinators go to www.sflarrl.org. 

=================================

Please check the Affiliated Club listing and update the contact name, phone number, e-mail and web site address. You won't get new club members is your club can't be contacted and the meeting sites can't be located. Also, be sure to appoint a club PIO in order to have local media outlets contacted for meeting dates and club events.

=============================

Hamfests and Free Fleas

Any hamfest, no matter what size may request ARRL sanctioning. Please see: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/hamfests/rules.html for hamfest and convention rules
See: http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/checkers.html for the list of ARRL awards checkers. If you wish to have an awards checker at your hamfest these arrangements must be made by the hamfest committee and the cards checker.

If you wish to have cards checked at a location other than a hamfest contact the card checkers directly
*** for details on submitting cards for DXCC awards go to: http://www.freewebs.com/fecdx/dxcccardchecking.htm

"A great hamfest is usually one that you find something you wanted or something you thought you would never see," says Bill, W2CQ.

 

                                            Upcoming Events

 

 Fort Pierce Hamfest      August 10, 2013    Indian River State College

Info-http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/ft-pierce-arc-hamfest-1

 

Florida State Convention at Melbourne      October 12 & 13, 2013

Info-http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/florida-state-convention-melbourne-hamfest-2

 

Flamingo Net / University of Miami ARC Free Flea    Nov. 16, 2013

Info- http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/flamingo-net-umarc-free-flea-8

 

Broward ARC Cy Harris Free Flea      Nov. 23, 2013

http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/cy-harris-w4maq-memorial-free-flea-2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=============================

Section policy has been and will continue to be: if health, family or work matters interfere with an appointee performing the duties of the appointment he/she may step aside without hard feelings and may apply for an appointment at a later date when the other matters are settled.

Amateur radio in many areas receives a lot of favorable press and praise from government officials for their work during and after the storms. Why? Because there were PIOs (Public Information Officers) working with ARES to get the information out in real time and the PIOs were available to the media. Where does your ARES group stand in this area?

Need to know who your ARES® Emergency Coordinator is? When the traffic nets are held? Hamfests throughout the area? How to complete the Public Service Honor Roll (PSHR) report? Go to: www.sflarrl.org

Need traffic handling procedures? Need information about ARES® and RACES functions? Can't find information on your individual traffic count for your Station Activity Report? Go to: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/pscm/index.html
I will be happy to mail traffic handling information to anyone interested... Just ask. de KA4FZI@ AOL.COM

SFAN (Saturday at 8AM local, 3.940MHz ), Net Manager is Thom, N5KFR.
All ECs are encouraged to check into these nets or send an OES representative if you cannot join the net. All ARES members are welcome to join the nets.

================
If your weekly net and local repeater has IRLP or Echolink check-in available please let Phylisan KA4FZI and us know. Also advise the ARES EC in your county and the neighboring counties. This information could be useful during disasters.

If you are going out of town for more than a few days when the season is quiet or more than 48 hours with a system beginning, please notify your local EC. Time is of the essence when a phone tree is activated or when members are phoned after they do not check into a resource net. And, especially if you can't deploy to a shelter or to another area, please offer your time to phone members, enter logs into a database, provide route directions, or other at-home activities. Everyone can do something.

======================

Check into a net - better to learn how now than during a disaster!
FMSN (FL Medium Speed CW Net) 3.651 Daily 6:30 PM
QFN (All FL CW Traffic Net) 3.547 Daily 7:00 PM, 10:00 PM
FAST (FL Amateur Sideband Traffic Net) 3.940 Daily 6:00 PM
FMTN (FL Midday Traffic Net 7.242 Daily 12:00 Noon
FPTN (Friendly Phone Traffic Net -- FL AL GA) 3.940 Daily 7:55 AM
NFAN (North FL ARES Net) 3.950 M-S 9:00 AM
NFPN (North FL Phone Net) 3.950 Daily 5:30 PM Winter 6:30 PM Summer
SFAN (South FL ARES Net) 3.940 Sat 8:00 AM
TPTN (Tropical Phone Traffic Net) 3.940 Daily 5:00 PM
SEFTN (Southeast FL Traffic Net) (2 meter) 146.790- Daily 6:00 PM
SWFTN (Southwest FL Traffic Net) (2 meter) 146.685 M-S 10:00 AM

http://wx4j.com -- A great place to check for other ARES/NTS info

------------------------

Does your club have a Publicity Chairperson? Is there a Public Information Officer for your ARES group? Are these people actively promoting amateur radio on an ongoing basis and are they known at the EOC by the county or city PIO? For more information read the e-magazine "Contact", at www.arrl.org/pio. For more info, contact our PIC, Dan Fisher, AI4GK at ai4gk@arrl.net

======================

Say Hello to your world with Amateur Radio. Get on the air, talk up ham radio, be an Elmer to a new ham & support your local club and ARES group.

 

Vy 73,

David, K4DLF

Jeff, WA4AW